Follow up on Lisa Pagan

When Lisa Pagan returned to active duty Monday she took her two children with her. That illustration of civilian life and recalls to duty has captured media attention throughout the world. Since 2001 soldiers are been recalled to duty as part of the IRR.

Pagan's company commander has recommended a hardship discharge according to her lawyer Mark Waple. The process for that could take days or weeks. Tonight there are conflicting reports on either or not pagan has been discharged. The Atlanta Journal and CNN claim she has been given a discharge while the blog MomLogic says she has not. Fort Benning spokeswoman Elsie Jackson told the media that she would not confirm if Pagan will be discharged. While her case is pending Pagan's children will be in base day care during daytime hours. Lt. Col. Richard McNorton of the Army Human Resources Command said that Pagan is on active duty and undergoing in-processing. He also stated that it is a myth that soldiers don't know if they could be recalled. Rebekah Sanderlin, 32, writes a blog for families at Fort Bragg, N.C believes that this is a fairness issue. USA Today reports:

"If the Army lets her family come first, then they have to let all of our families come first," says Sanderlin whose husband has done three tours of duty in Afghanistan.

When Pagan was discharged she became part of the Individual Ready Reserve. The IRR is the backup corps of the military. Each soldier is contractually indebted to eight years of service. If a soldier is discharged prior to that time they are enlisted in the IRR and remain so until the end of their eight-year military service obligation. Prior to the Iraq War the IRR was something most soldiers could forget about and move on to their civilian lives. After 9/11 however that policy was erased. Nearly 27,000 soldiers have been ordered back into active duty. Nearly half of those (11,000) have been sent overseas to Iraq or Afghanistan.